Third John, also among the shortest letters in the New Testament, is a deeply personal letter from the apostle John to "the wellbeloved Gaius." Through two contrasting figures within the early church, the letter shows what genuine faith looks like in practice — one man who faithfully supported traveling missionaries, and another who craved preeminence within the church.
Gaius is commended for his faithful hospitality toward itinerant brothers, while a man named Diotrephes is singled out for loving to have the preeminence, refusing to even acknowledge John's apostolic authority, and casting brothers out of the church. This short letter shows that helping those who labor for the truth is itself a way of working together with the truth (1:8).
Core Message
Third John draws a sharp contrast between service and humility on one hand, and prideful lust for control on the other. Gaius's life shows that walking in truth is never merely a private confession of faith but leads to concrete action — actually supporting and serving those who labor for the gospel. Diotrephes stands as a warning that even within the church, a person can abandon both truth and brothers simply to protect his own position.
John's exhortation, "follow not that which is evil, but that which is good" (1:11), together with the declaration that whoever does good is of God while whoever does evil has not seen God, insists that neither office nor position within the church reveals whose a person truly is — the fruit of an actual life does.
Verses Worth Memorizing
Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. (3 John 1:2)
A brief but pointed blessing showing that the prosperity of the soul takes priority over the prosperity of the body and outward life.
I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. (3 John 1:4)
The apostle's greatest joy was not success or prosperity but the sight of believers living faithfully within the truth.
Why It's Worth Memorizing
These short verses fix the soul's prosperity as life's highest priority and recall that walking in the truth is the greatest joy of all. They redirect the heart to long for faithfulness rather than visible success.